<h1>vcab_billingoss_oct_2009.pdf</h1><br/>“Several operators have already started to move away from unlimited flat-fee pricing for Mobile Broadband and are creating more differentiated offerings,” Melin says. “Typical differentiators include those based on volume of data that can be downloaded or the bandwidth of the connection. Another attractive option is to differentiate prices more dynamically based on capacity utilization in the network. This also makes it possible to give all subscribers the quality of service they have paid for, and to avoid a situation in which a small portion of the subscribers consume all the capacity.” A recent study by Ericsson and about two dozen operators demonstrates that Mobile Broadband can be profitable, but the challenge is striking the right balance between managing capacity, satisfying customers, and pricing services in a way that enables profitable growth, Melin says. Real-time charging is one tool that operators can use to address the issue of profitability and capacity, while making the evolution toward more dynamic pricing easy, clear and comfortable for the consumer, he explains. “Once differentiated Mobile Broadband prices are introduced, it is critical for operators to provide consumers with ways to control spending. Users should always be able to check how much they have left in their monthly bundle or know that they will be notified before any additional charges occur,” Melin says. However, with today’s growing network traffic, Mobile Broadband is already proving capable of delivering high-profit margins, the study found. Greger Blennerud, director of business development at Ericsson Networks, says that the study presents compelling evidence that even after only a few years of good growth, mobile-broadband margins are at least equal to those operators typically generate today, and on a par with those from DSL-based fixed broadband services. Ericsson’s calculations show that both cost per subscriber and cost per gigabyte are comparable to HSPABillingOSS. com l 39